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Apple has reached a settlement in a civil class-action lawsuit
brought against it by U.S. states and consumers who claim the
company overcharged shoppers by $280 million for
eBooks.

By settling Apple avoids a jury trial that was scheduled to start
next month, in which the company faced paying as much as $840
million in claims, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The terms of the settlement are sealed and still need the court's
approval. In addition, Apple won't pony up until it appeals last
year's ruling, in which Judge Denise Cote found that the tech
company violated antitrust laws by conspiring to raise eBook
prices with five major publishers. Apple has said it will appeal
Cote's decision, taking the case all the way to the Supreme
Court, if necessary.

"Any payment to be made by Apple under the settlement agreement
will be contingent on the outcome of that appeal," Steve Berman,
the plaintiffs' attorney, wrote in a letter to Judge Cote.

Back in April 2012, the U.S. government sued Apple and five
big-name publishers, including Simon & Schuster and Hatchett,
alleging that the tech company and the publishers had conspired
to make eBooks more expensive for consumers.

Essentially, Apple and the publishers tried to change the way
eBooks were priced. Up until then, publishers sold eBooks to
retailers who, in turn, were able to reset the price. Known as
the "wholesale model," this allowed Amazon to buy eBooks and turn
around and sell them to consumers at a lower price point --
typically $9.99 -- in an effort to increase its already massive
market share.

In anticipation of the iPad's launch, the U.S. government claimed
that the five publishers met with Apple to negotiate contracts
that would allow them to set eBook prices. (Apple would then take
a 30 percent cut of each sale). Known as an "agency model," the
terms barred retailers from lowering the eBook prices, which the
publishers typically set at $12.99 or $14.99.

The U.S. government alleged that Apple was instrumental in the
collusion to raise prices across the industry.

As The Wall Street Journal noted, Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, then the CEO of
Apple, corroborates this account. From the biography, here's
Job's on Apple's negotiations with the publishers: "We told
the publishers, 'We'll go to the agency model, where you set
the price, and we get our 30%, and yes, the customer pays a
little more, but that's what you want anyway.'"